Music playback on Android can be controlled in various ways. The conventional way, of course, is to use the media controls present on your favorite music player’s interface. Then there are a few music apps that support controlling playback via your device’s volume keys. The button on your headset/Bluetooth device proves to be sufficient for most users as well. We also know of a few apps that allow controlling music playback through the accelerometer (by giving your device a shake). As you can see, all aforementioned solutions require you to touch (or tap buttons on) your device in one way or the other.

What if one wishes to control media playback on their Android without having to touch/unlock the device at all? Two words: Wave Control. To make your task of playing, pausing and switching between music tacks totally touch-free, this app utilizes your device’s proximity sensor. That is, it lets you control music playback by passing your hand over the sensor, and through other similar gestures.

The app launches to a screen that displays various instructions about using the app, and enables its service. As mentioned in said instructions, music playback on your Android can be controlled using the following gestures/hand movements over the proximity sensor (located near the ear-piece) of your device:

1. Stop/hover over the proximity sensor momentarily to play/pause music.

4. Wave across the sensor thrice to enable/disable the app’s controls. With this particular gesture, you need to be swift with your hand/finger movements for the effect to take place. (Hint: Doing a “You Can’t See Me” in John Cena Style will surely help!).

A commendable thing about Wave Control is that it remains active even if your device’s screen times out, thereby allowing you to control music playback even while your device is, say, lying on your desk on standby. If the app repeatedly fails to respond to gestures, try bringing your hand closer to the proximity sensor. Wave Control runs with almost all popular music players. We managed to test it successfully with Android’s stock music player, and PowerAMP. The video provided below shows the developer demoing the app.

Wave Control has a free and $1 Pro variant in the Google Play Store. The paid version is Ad-free, and brings several additional features, such as the option to assign custom actions for supported gestures, an additional gesture for stopping music playback, disabling certain unwanted gestures, and support for gesture-control of MX Video Player.